Chief Data Officer (MENA)

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The Opportunity:

The Chief Data Officer (CDO) is accountable for establishing and executing a MENA-wide data strategy that accelerates business value creation, enables AI at scale, and ensures data is trusted, secure, and compliant. This is a crossService Line leadership role supporting Assurance, Tax, Consulting, and EY-Parthenon, defining the data operating model, overseeing governance and stewardship, and partnering with senior leaders to transform data into differentiated products, insights, and revenue-generating services across the region. The base location for this position will either Egypt, Jordan or Lebanon office.

Your key responsibilities:

As Chief Data Officer for the MENA Super Region, you will set the vision and lead the execution of an AI-ready data agenda across countries and across Assurance, Tax, Consulting, and EY-Parthenonbalancing growth, innovation, and risk. You will create alignment between service-line strategies and shared data capabilities, standardize governance and data ways of working, and build a scalable foundation for data products, analytics, and responsible AI that can be reused across offerings and engagements.

• Define and execute the regional data strategy and roadmap (1236 months), aligned to global direction and local regulatory, market, and client needs.
• Establish a fit-for-purpose data operating model (roles, decision rights, funding, and prioritization) and lead cross-country data councils and communities of practice.
• Lead enterprise data governance and stewardship, including policies, standards, data quality, metadata, lineage, master/reference data, and domain ownership.
• Enable AI and analytics at scale by promoting reusable data products, trusted datasets, and self-service capabilities; partner with technology teams on platform strategy and modernization.
• Oversee data risk management, privacy, security, and compliance (e.g., GDPR and local regulations), working closely with Risk, Legal, and Cyber teams to ensure responsible data use and AI governance.
• Drive measurable value from data investments by defining KPIs (quality, adoption, reuse, time-to-insight, risk reduction) and establishing benefits tracking and reporting to leadership.
• Lead data monetization by identifying high-value data assets and transforming them into revenue-generating assets, products, and services (e.g., data-enabled managed services, benchmarks, client insights products, accelerators), including pricing/packaging, go-to-market alignment, and performance tracking.
• Act as an executive sponsor and ambassador for data, engaging senior stakeholders, clients, and external partners; represent the region in global forums and contribute to industry thought leadership.

• Data strategy and operating model agreed with regional leadership and all Service Lines (Assurance, Tax, Consulting, EY-Parthenon), including funding, prioritization, decision rights, and governance cadence.
• Core governance capabilities in place (data owners/stewards per domain, policies, critical data elements, quality rules, and a metadata/catalog approach) with demonstrated adoption and measurable quality uplift across countries and Service Lines.
• A prioritized portfolio of reusable data products and AI-ready datasets delivered, enabling at least 23 high-impact crossService Line use cases (e.g., client delivery, risk/compliance, or operational efficiency) and an initial data monetization pipeline established (target offerings defined, pricing/packaging agreed, and first pilots or revenue realized).

Skills and attributes for success: 

You bring senior, enterprise-scale leadership experience across data strategy, governance, platforms, and value realization, including:

• Bachelors degree (Masters preferred) in Computer Science, Data/Analytics, Information Systems, Engineering, or related field; 12+ years in data/technology leadership with 5+ years in an enterprise or regional CDO/Head of Data/VP Data-equivalent role.
• Demonstrated success establishing data governance, stewardship, and data quality at scale; deep understanding of data management practices (metadata, lineage, MDM, reference data, retention) and regulatory requirements (e.g., GDPR).
• Proven experience shaping data platform/architecture strategy (cloud, lakehouse/warehouse, integration, APIs) and enabling analytics/AI delivery through data products and modern engineering practices.
• Executive-level communication, influence, and stakeholder management skills; able to partner with C-suite leaders, lead through ambiguity, and operate effectively in a multicultural, matrixed environment (fluent English required; Arabic is plus).

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in professional services or similarly complex, regulated environments with multiple Service Lines and country-level nuances.
• Track record of delivering enterprise data products, monetizing data assets, or scaling AI/advanced analytics in a governed manner.
• Experience implementing data catalog, governance workflow, and quality tooling; familiarity with common frameworks (e.g., DAMA-DMBOK, DCAM) is beneficial.
• Strong understanding of information security, privacy-by-design, and responsible AI governance principles.

What we look for:

• Strategic leadership: sets vision, aligns stakeholders, and translates strategy into an executable roadmap.
• Value orientation: prioritizes outcomes, measures benefits, and optimizes investment across the data portfolio.
• Governance and risk mindset: balances innovation with controls, compliance, and ethical data/AI use.
• Product thinking: builds reusable data products with clear ownership, SLAs, and adoption plans.
• Collaboration: partners effectively across Technology, Risk, Legal, and Service Lines in a matrixed organization.
• Change leadership: drives cultural adoption, capability building, and continuous improvement.

What we offer

• Continuous learning: Youll develop the mindset and skills to navigate whatever comes next. 
• Success as defined by you: Well provide the tools and flexibility, so you can make a meaningful impact, your way. 
• Transformative leadership: Well give you the insights, coaching and confidence to be the leader the world needs. 
• Diverse and inclusive culture: Youll be embraced for who you are and empowered to use your voice to help others find theirs. 

The exceptional EY experience. Its yours to build. 

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